Customer Reviews

Bellydance Divas

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Read other reviews to find out what people think of this video but if you own any of the "Bellydance for Fitness and Weight Loss" videos by the bellydancer Rania or anything from the bellydance twins Veena and Neena, it's good to know one VERY important fact. . . there is absolutely NO NEW or ORIGINAL material on this DVD. Every single one of the dance numbers on this disc is already in the "bonus" section of one of the above mentioned DVDs.

Had I known this in advance, I would have passed on this purchase. As an owner of other bellydance videos, I was VERY disappointed to discover that the long awaited and much hyped DVD I'd just purchased was merely a recycling of material I already owned in bonus sections of previously released DVDs. If you don't own other bellydance videos this fact may not matter to you at all. I just thought I'd post this note as a "public service" to keep anyone else who collects bellydance videos from wasting their money like I did.

This is not the best performance video/DVD out there, but it's certainly not a waste of money (especially at this price).

What I liked:
- Sohaila - She has an elegant, mature style, sweet facial expressions, and a classical "ear" for the music. I'm going to steal some of her combinations. However, I watched the entire DVD in one sitting (and it's LONG), and I found myself getting tired of her. There's just wasn't a lot of variety in her performances. If I watched one at a time, or saw her perform a single routine in person, I would have been much more impressed.
- Louchia - It was really neat to see Persian dancing. I, myself, wouldn't consider it belly dance (although I'm sure some will disagree with me), but it's good to be exposed to other dance styles from the region.
- The variety of costumes. There was huge variation in styles, and I got lots of ideas.
- The variety of dance styles. While I didn't like every performance (I'll go into why later), few videos try to give an overview like this one does.
- the DVD options were nice: you can watch all the performances in order, or all of one dancer's pieces. It would have been nice to be able to choose each piece individually, but it's not that difficult to scroll forward by chapter within each dancer's section.

What I didn't like:
- the constant sucking up to the Egyptian style. Yes, Egyptian style is very elegant and nice, but the commentary left me feeling like I shouldn't consider all other styles as lesser, as if they're not "real" belly dance. I also didn't like that they referred to American style or American cabaret style as "the traditional style".
- Rania - her technique is good, but I just can't stand her style. I found myself getting offended by her nearly-constant "sultry face". The only exception was her 9/8 (which I didn't think was that great, but she did smile in that number).
- Marina - I liked her energy, but she seemed way to frantic. She just seemed to throw herself and her props around. I got tired watching her. I've seen other performances in the Turkish style that had just as much energy but much more control.
- the camera work - others have complained, so I won't reiterate.
- while I liked that the commentary tried to be educational, I found some of what they said to be highly suspect.
- the music in the menus is MUCH louder than during the performances. I had to adjust the volume constantly, which was a pain.

This DVD is worth buying for Sohaila and Louchia, for the costumes and to pick up some new combinations. If you're a fan of Rania or Marina, you may also like it.

All in all this is a good DVD for your collection, especially if you are a dancer wanting to get combination ideas. I do think that some things about it are rather disappointing. The first dance done by Marina, the second done by Sohaila, and the second by Louchia are already on another tape I own - Beyond Basic Dance with Veena and Neena. I wonder if this is just a collection of performances featured on the Veena and Neena DVD extra features. I hope not.

I do think that Marina plays with her hair too much. The first times I watched her perform it didn't bother me, but it became apparent during the second dance that that is one of her "things." It can pull your attention away from a cool move that she is doing. Despite that, though, she is a spectacular dancer and probably my favorite. I love her style! She's so full of life and her dances are so emotional, she's absolutely mesmerizing!

Rania's dance with the Wings of Isis was a treat. I must say, though, that I don't like her turns, especially her barrel rolls. It MAY be what she is going for, but they look TOO trance-like and almost Exorcist-y. I don't really feel a lot of connection to her and her dances, though. She seems too perfunctory. That said, she sure can wiggle!

I love Luchia's dances and dresses. They change the pace, add more flavor, and are a lot of fun to watch. I really like her style and it appears deceptively simple compared to the layering that Marina and Sohaila perform.

Now, Sohaila is a wonderful dancer. She has excellent control and grace, but she isn't my style. The narrator says at one point during one of her performances that the Egyptian style can be likened to Ballet where as the other traditional styles are like jazz. I suppose I prefer jazz. It's a personal preference and nothing is detracted while plenty is gained from her being in the video.

Over all, I am glad that I have this video. For someone interested in only watching for the performances, it's terrific. For choreography or technique ideas, the close-ups are annoying (aren't they always?), but they are not TOO frequent and you can sometimes figure out what the dancer is doing with her lower body, anyway, by context. There is a good variety represented with plenty of costume diversity and prop dancing (too bad there was no tribal or fusion style represented).

It's not about the dancers, the dancers are great! They dance very beautiful. It's about the camera man/women, who dindn't know that bellydance is about HIPS, and not about the face.

For the ladyes that danced i give them 5 Stars, but not for the DVD!

Thank you

This is a nice collection of performances at a reasonable price. It is true- if you have all 3 Twins "discover" DVDs, their Slim Down and Rania's 4 weight loss DVDs, you will have all these performances. Of course, if you have them on vhs, you will be missing most of them, except for a few of Rania's.
Given how expensive many bellydance performance dics are, this is a decent buy. The dancers are all very good and show several different styles. Sohaila has a few lovely classical Egyptian numbers, and Louchia has 2 Persian numbers- a style often left off of performance compilations. Marina has several wonderful Turkish, cabaret numbers, including a really strong drum solo. And finally, Rania has several strong performances, including her famous "Wings of Isis" dance, a sword dance and a really nice improv piece. I would liked to have seen a few more dancers, but overall, this is well produced, with a nice variety of styles, tempos and music.

I bought this after finding it by accident in a store. I've read in other reviews that much of the stuff here can be found on extras in other dvds through Natural Journeys. Possibly, I've got all Bellytwins and some other stuff, but they're bought a ways back and are on video, so I haven't benefited from those extras. But I did enjoy the dvd. There are four dancers, Rania probably the best known with all her fitness dvds out there. There is a variety of dancing, and each number is introduced with a brief description of the type of dancing, kind of song, and a couple other details (e.g., you usually don't see a dancer in Egypt showing her stomach). It was fun the watch the different styles and it can inspire you maybe try something different. I also have the bellydance superstars dvd, which I personally prefer. It has many more dancers on it, though each does only two numbers, and some of them I wish had done more, many more, especially. With this divas DVD, some dancers dance a lot more (Rania has something like six or seven numbers, while the first dancer only has two or three). I liked seeing the different costumes, too, where some looked like they were dancing in stretchy evening gowns while others were more what is usually seen (sexier I Dream of Jeannie fare). Overall, though, I liked it a lot and enjoy the performances,

Don't know if you want to study modern Cabaret, traditional Egyptian, Turkish, or Persian folk? I didn't. I knew I loved the 9/8 Turkish Roman time, but couldn't find any performances to this fabulous Eastern music. Until now. Rania does a good job on the Turkish Rompi Rompi (she's no Eva Cernik, but she's very good). The set isn't very imaginative, but the dancers' expertise and gorgeous costuming make up for it. (The only style missing is American Tribal.) If you're looking for beautiful Persian, Egyptian, traditional Cabaret, or lively Turkish dancing to incorporate into your workouts & performances, this is a fun way try something new; just be ready to move very fast!

I'm surprised at all the negative reviews. But then, I guess I'm a little strange in that when I become involved in something, I do want to know the history and significance it carries.

Nowhere on its cover does this dvd claim to have "original performances" or any of the other elements reviewers knock it down for. It doesn't claim that any of the dancers are "world renowned," have won any awards or are even famous. The dvd is simply a presentation of the different styles of bellydance as performed by four different dancers. It does not claim to be inspirational or instructional. It only claims to showcase the various styles of bellydance as explained by the narrator, including the meaning of the individual dances, the music typically used and the costuming and props. Since traditional dances are being performed, they are not supposed to be original.

I was actually looking for Bellydance Superstars and this was the only one the store had. I was looking for other dancers to observe while I relax at home since I won't be able to go to the once a year Bellydance Superstars performance in my state.

The performances show some styles I'd never actually seen before - and probably might never see because I live in the Bible Belt where bellydance is seen as sleazy and too "foreign." The dancers are wonderful and skilled and the music and photography are beautiful. It's also a fabulous costume show. The dvd shows Egyptian, Turkish, Cabaret and Persian dance. Veils, swords, canes and Isis wings are incorporated. This dvd has just about everything. As a dancer, I do find that I am inspired by some of the individual dancers' styles. For instance, I wasn't sure that I wanted to roll around on the floor with my sword but Rania did it so well that I may give it a try.

If you bought the dvd and weren't happy, you might have done well to read the description on the label. Another clue could be that it's produced by Natural Journeys, a company that sells bellydance fitness videos. This dvd is likely a marketing strategy to entice people to buy their other videos. I do agree that the title is very misleading.

This dvd is for those who are new to bellydance, those who are interested in learning about the different cultural aspects, dances and costuming or just have a casual interest in bellydance. It fulfills those intentions very well.

Finally, a bellydance video is available to the general public that is made by real dancers, to real music, showing some of the many different styles of bellydance. All four dancers were great. Rania and Marina were amazing. I have been bellydancing for three years, and I showed this video to my family to show them what I am learning. It is classy, tasteful, and loaded with great performances.

This is not high-class dancing. Rania and Marina, though energetic and creative, don't seem to possess sufficiently polished techniques. They also don't seem to be able to control their facial expressions and, as a result, look very tense. Rania often looks more like a soldier rather than a dancer. And her profound bellyrolls impress not so much with their trickiness as with their grossness... Although there was one dance which I kind of liked: she finally looked so free and innocent (in that tender lavender outfit).

Similarly, only one of Marina's performances I found enjoyable. It's a lovely blend of a Persian dance and bellydance, somewhat folkloric, yet not simplistic, and very graceful. The slow veil dance wasn't too bad. In her other 3 numbers, Marina loses fluidity of movements too often, and looks rather frantic.

Sohaila's moves are very smooth, but I feel that something is missing in all her 4 dances... Maybe the choreography isn't interesting enough. Maybe it's the music that I find really boring.

Louchia's 2 very folkloric pieces are not true bellydances.

I liked most of the costumes (especially Sohaila's), and found the music for Rania's and Marina's performances to be igniting. I was impressed with Rania's props incorporation. She uses them in 5 of her 7 numbers (sword, cane, Isis wings, and veils).